Offensive Line Depth Chart Change

[retailguy]

We've all been bitchin' about continuity. Now they move Barbre, arguably the best LG candidate, to LT? as a backup? We don't need depth, we need a starting line.

Help Help!

Don't worry KY.... McCarthy has a plan.... Just trust him. At least that's what I've been told a hundred times. If you say it enough, it'll help.

Lets watch the line against Denver. If it looks as bad as the 49ers, then maybe it'll be alright to show concern. In the teams defense, the pass blocking was OK in the Cincinnati game, run blocking wasn't so hot, but... well... I'll be watching this weekend.

We've ran the ball in the pre-season?

Didn't Rodgers scramble once or twice?

[KYPack]

right now I still think our best line is Clifton, Colledge, Wells, Spitz, Tauscher...how ever, I'm starting to fall in love with the idea of Clifton, Colledge, Spitz, Barbre, Tauscher.

Our future is Colledge, Barbre, Spitz, Sitton, (Tauscher)? So I think we have 4-5 guys, including Wells, 6 if Giacomini pans out at all, that could be players for us.

I'm with ya, ND.

I like your first line, except put Barbre for Colledge.

I don't see what Barbre has done to deserve being shuffled around. Every time I've seen him play, he at least holds his own. Sitton plays OK, also, but I can't say he has been head and shoulders above any of the other guards.

At this point the continuity we all crave is almost an impossibilty. This "new" Oline group is gonna be cohesive after 2 or 3 quarters together? I doubt it. Maybe they can get it together. I sure hope so.

I also think the injuries have saved Moll and Coston their jobs. No way they can cut a back-up center with Wells in the shape he's in. Moll has shown some pretty good versatility, so those two should make the final cut.

[run pMc]

The merry-go-round on the OL isn't very convincing at this point.

Agree. I'd like to see them settle on something ASAP. I think Favre could handle the swapping because of his experience. I'm far less convinced Rodgers will get rid of the ball quick enough to stay off IR when one of the players M3 plugs in the OL impersonates a turnstile.

I'm puzzled that they moved Spitz to LG for the SF game and didn't let Barbre and Colledge fight it out more for the starting gig at LG. I subscribe to the logic that moving a player on the line to plug someone else in actually weakens you at two spots. Is a Sitton-Spitz guard combo really better than Barbre-Spitz or Colledge-Spitz? Consider me skeptical.

Philbin and M3 need to figure out who their startes are, and I don't get the sense that they know. With an inexperienced QB, that's a troubling sign.

I know, I know...I hear the stuff about how Colledge should be a LT. I wonder if Barbre is more athletic than Colledge and thus might be a better long term candidate at LT. And if that is true, there still doesn't appear to be a solution at LG. (And yes, I think Coston's time is up.)

[RashanGary]

I love Barbre at LT. I think he's our most athletic lineman (more athletic than Colledge) and has the most natural ability to stop a speed rush. He also has the strength to man up against a bull rush. He's not a genius but at tackle it's more about winning the one on ones.


I could see Barbre being the LT of the future and I was hoping they'd play him there earlier.

[prsnfoto]

Maybe the fat umpa lumpa will get his next brainstorm idea and convert Clifton to a guard. The line is a fucking joke it has been since the day TT took over.

[mraynrand]

Spitz was bull rushed into oblivion at LG. Is he any better at RG? Do the Packers really see him starting at Guard. I would think backup center, possibly replacing Wells, if Wells can't go or is too small for Bears and Vikings DTs.

[ND72]

Maybe the fat umpa lumpa will get his next brainstorm idea and convert Clifton to a guard. The line is a fucking joke it has been since the day TT took over.

I think TT has done a good job with our OL. Rivera was getting old, and only played what? half a season in Dallas? Wahle has never been what he was here. we had to break it down, and build it back up. Funny part is everyone at the end of last season was talking about how awesome our OL had become....um, newsflash, we haven't lost anyone.

I don't understand what the coaching staff is really doing, but we should only improve from where we were last year.

[prsnfoto]

Maybe the fat umpa lumpa will get his next brainstorm idea and convert Clifton to a guard. The line is a fucking joke it has been since the day TT took over.

I think TT has done a good job with our OL. Rivera was getting old, and only played what? half a season in Dallas? Wahle has never been what he was here. we had to break it down, and build it back up. Funny part is everyone at the end of last season was talking about how awesome our OL had become....um, newsflash, we haven't lost anyone.

I don't understand what the coaching staff is really doing, but we should only improve from where we were last year.

I have no problem with letting Wahle and Rivera go but ya have to replace them within three years as far as them getting better my take is Grant and Brett made them look better than they are I guess we will find out soon enough.

[The Leaper]

Funny part is everyone at the end of last season was talking about how awesome our OL had become....um, newsflash, we haven't lost anyone.

Newsflash...we weren't awesome at the end of last season either.

[The Leaper]

I have no problem with letting Wahle and Rivera go but ya have to replace them within three years

I agree. To this point, Thompson has done precious little to provide CAPABLE STARTERS on the OL. He's damn lucky Clifton and Tauscher haven't broken down yet.

OL is an area Thompson gets failing grades in my book. His free agent choices to replace Wahle and Rivera were horrific flops, and none of the draft picks he's brought in have really proven themselves as consistent and capable after 1-2 seasons.

We are sitting on tons of cash...why not go out and acquire someone this offseason who has some proven ability on the OL? This is even more frustrating when you recognize that Thompson had been planning to hand the keys to the offense to Rodgers throughout the offseason. The kid needs a better group to rely on than we have.

[Gunakor]

Colledge starting?

Forget all yalls intelligent analysis on the situation...

but
(no offense)

We're fucked.

Colledge started last year, and the line improved as the season went along. I'll say it again, continuity is the biggest part of a successful line. This is terrific news IMO. The starters on the line are just what they were last season. IMO they should remain the starters as long as they are healthy, because the more these 5 guys play together the better the line will become. An offensive line should play as one, and parts are not so easily interchangeable. Kudos to MM for finally getting back to what was working last season. Hopefully he'll keep it that way all the way through January.

[ND72]

Maybe the fat umpa lumpa will get his next brainstorm idea and convert Clifton to a guard. The line is a fucking joke it has been since the day TT took over.

I think TT has done a good job with our OL. Rivera was getting old, and only played what? half a season in Dallas? Wahle has never been what he was here. we had to break it down, and build it back up. Funny part is everyone at the end of last season was talking about how awesome our OL had become....um, newsflash, we haven't lost anyone.

I don't understand what the coaching staff is really doing, but we should only improve from where we were last year.

I have no problem with letting Wahle and Rivera go but ya have to replace them within three years as far as them getting better my take is Grant and Brett made them look better than they are I guess we will find out soon enough.

gotta have holes to run through...

[retailguy]

Funny part is everyone at the end of last season was talking about how awesome our OL had become....um, newsflash, we haven't lost anyone.

Newsflash...we weren't awesome at the end of last season either.

Well, last season, I thought the pass blocking was fine, and while not "world beating" was adequate. Run blocking improved from abysmal to almost decent on occasion, but was never very good, and certainly not consistent.

I guess shaking things up has some merit to see if you missed something, but after watching the 1st quarter of the SF game, I think we can put that one to bed.

I've said for a long time that Colledge can't cut it as a guard. I've always thought he was a better tackle, but he's not Clifton talented either.

Spitz has been a disaster since they moved him to the LG spot.

About the only thing they haven't tried is moving Wells to guard. Seems to me that they did that for a while in his rookie year, I don't recall him performing that badly, though the knock on the guy has always been his short arms. But if they like Spitz at center.... maybe Wells can be a better guard than spitz can?

This year, the line is even more critical with Rodgers back there. He's got to have solid blocking to have any hope of being successful. Throwing him out behind a sub-par line would be just criminal, and would undoubtedly get him hurt.

[Guiness]

Wells has more abdominal troubles. With Clifton out with soreness the number one line at practice went like this:

Tony Moll, Daryn Colledge,Jason Spitz, Josh Sitton and Mark Tauscher.

Cliffy is expected to be back at LT, but most think Spitz will stay at center as Barbre and Colledge fight it out for LG.

Interesting to look at the shuffles they've made, and try to see what they have in mind...

I think Clifton would be playing if it was a regular season game - so whoever is in there is just a placeholder. Many thought early that Moll was gone this year, so that could be the case. With Colledge projected as our long term solution at LT, I'm surprised he wasn't getting the reps, so that tells me that they want him at LG for the time being, and will probably start there at the beginning of this season.

I'm also starting to wonder if they want Spitz at center this season. There are other backup centers that could be playing if they intended to have Spitz start at guard.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Re: Offensive Line Depth Chart Change

Depth chart updated 8/18 has Colledge (LG) and Spitz (RG) as the first team guards.

Oh my God, where is KY? In your face!